Needing a bit of leverage. [OPEN/BATTLE]

Corrine hastily stowed her mask behind her back beneath her robes. She wasn't too sure what difference this would make, after all she was dressed in the traditional death eater robes surely that'd tell whoever came out to them that they weren't on their side. Moreover her face was exposed. The window to her physical identity, the one way she could be identifiable. If she were the one to hand the Swan girl over to the death eaters it would be Corrine's face the girl would see in her mind for the rest of the life. She wouldn't be just a masked warrior in dark robes she would have a face. Emotion. Personality and Miss Swan could totally misjudge her. Still, Ben said that they wouldn't trust her. Even more reason to keep the mask on. The one thing Corrine hated most was being disloyal.

The door opened to their right and a blonde girl with curly hair emerged. The girls eyes were wide, displaying a mix of curiosity and potential fear that she couldn't trust the death eaters. She was innocent and, if the girl was Hadley Swan, Corrine and Ben were about to ruin her life.

'We need to get you out. You have to leave.' ... Is what Corrine had wanted to say, but after a double glance towards Ben she remembered her role. Corrine Redgrave wasnt herself tonight. She was a death eater on a mission and had to make sure the death eaters trusted her or else they would find out her brother had betrayed them and that she wasn't really on their side. It wasn't that she was on the Order's either, if anything the ex-Hufflepuff stood in the middle. Neutral. But once a death eater always a death eater and Corrine couldn't risk any harm coming to her family for any betrayal.

'You wouldn't be able to help us find a Miss Swan, would you?'

Her cheeks flushed red. Her eyes rounded in sadness. She was really doing this wasn't she? She could have waited for Ben to raise the question but a face, quite similar to hers, was brought to the front of her mind. Her brother Scott. She was doing this for him. They had never had a Mother, nor much of a Father for that matter. Corrine was the Mother and like all Mothers you'd do anything to protect your family and that's what Corrine had to do. Even if it mean't tearing someone elses apart.

It was killing her inside.

'We need to get her out of here before any harm comes to her.' She added, not sure whether she was actually lying or not.

For the first time in weeks, Hadley realized that she had a bit of power. They were looking for her, these people, and although she didn't know why, they obviously didn't recognize her or know what she looked like. She of course looked nothing like her adoptive sister, which couldn't have helped. Mind you, Hadley had never met Audriana in person anyway, so that didn't help anyone at all, really.

But she didn't know what to say, at first. She wanted to exclaim that she was the one they were after. But why were these cloaked people looking for her specifically? Did they have a list of people to save or something? If so, why weren't they asking about the little boy hiding in the closet behind her, too? She heard the sounds of fighting below her, of people running up and down the staircases, and could feel the change in pressure caused by the fire she knew had to be somewhere nearby. A witch she was not, but a survivor? She had done pretty well with that bit so far. There was no point in failing now.

"I'm her. Hadley Swan."

Ben stiffened, wishing it wasn't true. He muttered Corrine's name, as if telling her to go through with it. But he really didn't know what to do. His safety and that of his family ranked above all else. Even above the Order. And if that meant acting like it was all quite fine, Ben would have to do that for now. He could figure how to save her later.

(ooc: was waiting for other people to reply, but considering nobody has I figured I'd reply again just to get it rolling towards the end).

Corrine swallowed at the confirmation Hadley gave. The death eater had already told the girl they needed to find her and rescue her, lead her away from the Inn and to Death manor where the woman couldn't even imagine what would happen to her. Hopefully they'd treat her well, after all wasn't their intention tojust use her as bait for Audriana? Perhaps Corrine had misunderstood, pretty much everything at the death eater meetings went over her head. 

'It's okay, Hadley. We're going to get you out and then hopefully others will save your friends too.'

This wasn't a complete lie as Corrine was beginning to smell smoke, which suggested that a fire had started from somewhere further down. Being a nurse had opened her to the damage fire could do, the third degree burns, the inhaled ash and smoke that caused ones windpipe to constrict. They had to leave and fast. 

Corrine reached for Hadley's hand, her eyes forcefully not meeting the blonde's gaze. She could barely lie to the girl let alone stare her in the eye and pretend everything was going to be okay. 

Then, she turned to Ben. Corrine wasn't sure what to do next. The death eater had never taken apparation classes, she hadn't been able to afford the fee, and even upon finding a job for herself and making a living the ex-Hufflepuff had been too busy caring for her Father and watching out for her brother to find time to take the classes. 

'You'll need to take us out.' She confessed for the second time that night after asking if she could side-along apparate with Alexander. 'I can't apparate just yet.'

Hopefully the word yet would make her sound less of a failure than the fact that she couldn't do it at all.

[ooc: for the sake of pushing the plot, I'm going to move Oliver back here. We can probably call this the end of the thread and move to the manor.]

Oliver should have stayed longer and dealt with that troublesome Death Eater, whomever he was. But his hex had found its target, and Oliver had a series of cuts along his torso that Alice didn't need to know about until later. Of course, he didn't stick around very long once he realized how quickly the flames would do him in.

He felt like a coward, considering running away. But then, he rethought the situation and decided that sometimes, running was braver. It meant he would have further trials and more trouble to deal with. It would have been easier to give up, but the whole damn building would be on fire soon, and he had to get the Muggles out and find Alice. He should never have lost sight of her; he had promised her he wouldn't. But the longer that he stayed, the more danger everyone was in.

So he sucked in a breath, despite the smoke filling the second floor, and apparatus to the opposite end of the hallway, behind his attacker. Sending a petrification spell he hoped would work, Oliver charged up the stairs in time to see Ben take some woman's arm. There was a blonde next to them, also holding on, though she glanced desperately towards the room to her left. Who was in there? Ben and Oliver looked at each other for a second, one preparing to disappear and the other refusing to leave. And then Ben took the two women away with him.

Oliver should have been concerned. But it was Ben. Surely Ben was smart enough to work his way out of things as he had done in the past. So he took off into the room that the blonde woman had been staring at, found the little boy, and convinced him that they had to leave. He didn't understand why, when he came back downstairs, the Death Eaters were gone and the Order was all that was left. And they had more to worry about with the Muggles who needed to be helped to safety.

The Death Eaters would have to wait until morning.